Club For Growth President Chris Chocola will keep a close eye on Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., when members of a Congressional "super committee" meet next month to identify potential spending cuts.
Chocola told Hotline On Call in an interview Wednesday that the group may not be as involved in challenging sitting House incumbents this year, but that the Michigan Republican is one he'll have his eye on as the super committee convenes.
"There are some folks who we don't think carry the pro-growth agenda," said Chocola. "A guy I watch all the time is Fred Upton. He's my greatest worry."
Chocola said that Upton "made a conversion a little bit to become chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee," but that now that he's on the even more important supercommittee.
"He brought us the lightbulb and all that good stuff," said Chocola. "He's been around a long time and he has a long record, and it's not necessarily a conservative record."
While Upton doesn't have a GOP primary challenger yet, he's been the target of some early radio ads run by the League of Conservation Voters over his bill that blocked the EPA from regulation carbon dioxide. Upton did get at least one challenger this week when Democrat John Walzsaid he would run next year. Walz challenged Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky., last year. Upton has routinely won his swing district by comfortable margins, even when it gave 54 percent of the vote to President Obama in 2008. Michigan legislators added more Republicans in this year's redistricting process. "I guess you've got the spectrum," he said when asked about the Republican senators on the committee. Sen. Pat Toomey, one of the three Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tapped to serve on the panel, was Chocola's predecessor as head of the Club. Chocola said that Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., has been "really good" on their issues. "I guess it's always a wild card when someone's retiring," he added, but expressed hope that he would continue supporting pro-growth issues. The question, he said, was whether they would just do the minimum possible. "But if they really want to be a super committee, I think what they should do is focus on the real problem, and that's unfunded liabilities."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2011/08/chocola-upton-my-greatest-worry--17
"There are some folks who we don't think carry the pro-growth agenda," said Chocola. "A guy I watch all the time is Fred Upton. He's my greatest worry."
Chocola said that Upton "made a conversion a little bit to become chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee," but that now that he's on the even more important supercommittee.
"He brought us the lightbulb and all that good stuff," said Chocola. "He's been around a long time and he has a long record, and it's not necessarily a conservative record."
While Upton doesn't have a GOP primary challenger yet, he's been the target of some early radio ads run by the League of Conservation Voters over his bill that blocked the EPA from regulation carbon dioxide. Upton did get at least one challenger this week when Democrat John Walzsaid he would run next year. Walz challenged Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky., last year. Upton has routinely won his swing district by comfortable margins, even when it gave 54 percent of the vote to President Obama in 2008. Michigan legislators added more Republicans in this year's redistricting process. "I guess you've got the spectrum," he said when asked about the Republican senators on the committee. Sen. Pat Toomey, one of the three Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tapped to serve on the panel, was Chocola's predecessor as head of the Club. Chocola said that Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., has been "really good" on their issues. "I guess it's always a wild card when someone's retiring," he added, but expressed hope that he would continue supporting pro-growth issues. The question, he said, was whether they would just do the minimum possible. "But if they really want to be a super committee, I think what they should do is focus on the real problem, and that's unfunded liabilities."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2011/08/chocola-upton-my-greatest-worry--17